HOW TO BALANCE BLOGGING WITH A JOB
Last year I decided to take the plunge and work part time, I spend three days a week working in London and two days a week on my blog. Even though it freed up so much time for me to focus on my blog I still struggle to fit everything in, one of my days off is usually spent in London attending events and meeting brands so I have one day where I work from home to organise and schedule my content.
Whilst I still need to keep on top of emails, take outfit/general blog pictures and reply to blog posts and any comments - it soon becomes hectic again. I thought I'd jot down my top points on how I stay organised, hopefully it will help some of you that are trying to juggle blogging with a job, university or school - I have to say full timers I take my hat off to you because it's no easy task!
1.) Stay organised: Make sure your desk/office space is tidy so when you go to work you can do so with a clear mind, keep notebooks for separate areas of your blog i.e blogging, YouTube, vlogs, social media - so you can note down any inspiration, ideas and plans and refer to the correct one when you need it. I always find writing a to-do list at the beginning of each day and ticking it off as I go along really helps as I can map out exactly what needs to be done that day and it's a great feeling when you see the list getting ticket off. I also have a week planner which I find super helpful!
2.) Plan ahead: At the beginning of the week I sit down and fill out my week planner and know what posts I'm going to write that week, beforehand I'll have a little brainstorming session or flick through my notes for inspiration. I then take my blog post pictures in one batch so then I can go into each post and just write the text. If I'm having a good week I'll try to work on posts for the following week too, I always have an ongoing notebook in which I put all future post ideas (I've also bookmarked my 50 blog post ideas post for reference which is great to glance over!).
3.) Schedule: Anything that can be scheduled in, schedule it! It helps so much and I find it's a weight of your shoulders when you're attending events, answering emails and taking blog pictures - it's something you don't need to worry about. I try to schedule my posts in for the week, I also use the app Buffer for scheduling my Twitter and Facebook posts which is really handy!
4.) Make the most of your time: On the train to and from work I usually schedule in my social media - I try to work 2-3 days ahead of myself so I'm not scheduling in for that day in case for any reason I don't have the time to schedule then there will be a gap in my posts. I also use this hour to answer my emails and post images to Instagram too. Remember to use your time wisely, whether it's on your journey to work or in your lunch hour - this way it gives you time to switch off from 'blog mode' and unwind in the evening without worrying that you haven't done something for the next day.
5.) Don't pressure yourself: Last year I found that I put so much pressure on myself and used to worry if I hadn't scheduled a post in for the next day, but I learnt to go easier on myself this year and have adopted a much more laid back approach to blogging which has enabled me to enjoy it so much more! We're all human, we all forget stuff, we all get so tired that all we want to do is get in bed at 8pm with our friend Ben & Jerry - it's fine, if you don't post for one day or even a week people aren't going to stop reading your blog or forget about you! Allow yourself the time off and you'll be so much more productive with the time you do have!
How do you manage to write a blog and work? Any tips I should know about?
